Seems like many top schools do not offer legacy admissions. I don’t ever recall the question coming up or a box to check on my application…but that was admittedly awhile ago .
The old UHAA used to advertise the availability of scholarships that funded legacy admits, but
I’m not sure how many or how much has been awarded during its history. A portion of your
lifetime UHAA donation was suppose to fund that. But I can’t find the historical numbers.
OTOH…there is this too…
The practice is particularly widespread in the college admissions in the United States; almost three-quarters of research universities and nearly all liberal arts colleges grant legacy preferences in admissions.[4]
Then there is this on legacy admission in Texas. Seems the Ags did have one prior to
2004.
A&M’s legacy program gave preference to in-state and out-of-state children, grandchildren and siblings of school alumni. They received four points on a 100-point scale that also took into account high school class rank, test scores, extracurricular activities and other factors. It was the only legacy program among Texas public universities.
I’ve visited multiple campuses with Traditional Campuses…ours looks noting like one of those.
Until the last 10 years…it WAS a commuter school with a sea of parking.
Come on!
Where is the 24-7 on-campus gathering spots?
Where are the privately funded districts (restaurants, bars, shops, etc.) supporting a campus of 50,000 students? I mean within walking distance for UH students?
What keeps students ON CAMPUS 24-7, 7 days a week?
Compare that to other traditional campuses and you’ll understand why it is such a hassle to get students back on campus to attend games.
2 Likes
Duce630
(DustinK - I Stand With Israel - Bring Them Home)
25
Sounds like part of the issue here is I maybe have a different idea of what “cater to traditional students” means. I was thinking more class availability, dorm availability, and such.
I have spent time on the University of Arizona and Texas State campuses the most other than UH. Also been on Rice, been around UT (bot not really on campus), around Georgia Tech a bunch as well, a little of A&M.
Until the last 10 years UH was a commuter school with a sea of parking? Ok, I don’t know what you mean, we still have a sea of parking it just is a lot deeper because of more garages than we had 10 years ago. Is UH any less a commuter school now than it was 10 years ago? or even 20 or 30? I would expect so. Although I guess it depends how you measure it. However, I can tell you 30 years ago we did not have a student rec center or football games in the on campus stadium. We also had less students and less parking (that was truly a sea of parking if you ever forgot where you parked near Robertson Stadium back in the day like I did).
As far as 24-7 on-campus gathering spots, I don’t know of too many at the other schools outside of dorms or the library or I’m not sure there is as much of a call for 24-7 spots outside of dorms these days as the computer labs are not necessarily needed to be 24 hours with everyone having a laptop. However, the library commons at UH is 24 hours and has vending machines. Then there is spots in the dorms I would imagine but haven’t been in them lately. Can you give us examples of 24 hour gathering places at traditional campuses?
Privately funded districts supporting campus that are walking distance… well, unfortunately, other than where The Den is and the center that has (had?) Pink’s, there is no privately owned land on that side of campus. More of that has developed on Scott, especially in the last 10 years but not quite the attraction you seek yet. Although those newer complexes with the retail at the bottom at around Elgin certainly could become what you seek. Unfortunately, they aren’t quite there yet. Maybe its better in daytime, I don’t know. I know that Scott street is really the only place for it.
I’m just thinking how University of Arizona has that maybe three or four block area with shops and such but that area was always pretty dead at night when I was around, lively during the day though. Usually at night they would go downtown or some other places nearish to campus but not walkable. I would compare it to the drag in Austin really. Texas State well, I guess you can walk to the square from many dorms but there is no real main drag there and that is a traditional university. There’s retail between the square and the university too. but the university is like in the center of a circle and not all areas of the circle have the shopping and such. I can’t think of a particular area like you describe for Georgia Tech either (here’s a campus map Georgia Tech) but I could be forgetting something right now.
Well, the simple answer is nothing keeps students on campus 24-7, 7 days a week at UH or any traditional, commuter or any other school except maybe military academies. This isn’t a prison. We shouldn’t want students on campus 24-7, 7 days a week. We should also want them off campus at internships, externships, coop work, volunteering, etc. Those that do live in campus housing or private housing that caters to the students (I know some of the dorm places near campus recently are privately built and not officially uh housing) probably spend a lot of that time on campus like you wish. Now, getting that group to games regularly might be a different question.
I’m going to move this to a new thread though, while related to athletic attendance I think it is a bit of its own argument.
We want fans in TDECU or Fertitta? This is the best way to do it long term. We have to build a legacy. This will help. It might not take five years but certainly after a while we will see/notice the difference. We can only gain from this so why not do it?
Nobody is saying create a prison. I’m.talking about a University District where students can live, study, work, play, eat, go on dates, exercise, relax, party and cheer…nobody mentioned a prison setting…lol
The reason students leave the second their classes end is because nothing keeps them in "this district " and because of this we are having a very hard time convincing them to return for games or social events.
UCF should be our stage 1 mentor on how to do this…they’ve managed to figure it out despite being 40 years younger than UH
2 Likes
Duce630
(DustinK - I Stand With Israel - Bring Them Home)
28
You missed my other points. You talked about a 24-7 gathering place. What 24-7 gathering place is there at any other traditional school you’re comparing us to? We have the library commons and that’s comparable to other traditional campuses.
As far as the private district, I pointed out that the only place for it is Scott Street as there is only a few spaces on Calhoun (which some struggle to stay around over the years unfortunately), what is your solution to get that district successful? Because if the campus traffic isn’t supporting the businesses in the district, they wont last. Also when you compare us to traditional schools and considering this district, are you looking at other urban schools? Because that does make a difference.
Additionally, Houston’s lack of Zoning doesn’t help either as I’m willing to bet that many of the districts you’re thinking of were heavily influenced by zoning.
But really the original issue was you said UH doesn’t cater to traditional students. Yet you talk about a privately funded entertainment district, well there’s very little UH can do about that without using public funds.
UH still caters to traditional students by having student housing (much of it newer), a campus rec center, campus health center (not sure if it is newer space now or not), dining facilities, campus activities (organizations, events, etc), athletic events on campus, and a 24-7 study area or gathering spot at library. I’m sure they could do better or more but other than having a grocery store or liquor store they can walk to, they have the necessities. There is some private businesses like the den that bring life to the campus as well.
Let me ask you, what would be your vision for the private district you talk about. Keep in mind the space constraints so it will be on Scott Street. What businesses would you like to see populate the district? What businesses do you think the campus population could support? I know there’s Shipley’s and around half a dozen fast food restaurants on Scott from around Elgin to Wheeler. What else would you put there?
There are how many students living on campus?
I have no idea. Just in case I would like to see the following. The City of Houston should bent over backwards to help grocery stores, restaurants, bars, clubs, coffee shops to do/set up business inside the U of H boundaries. It will not only help students on campus but it will also help the entire neighborhood. again i have no clues if this is already being done. Anybody that has some “inside” information please chime in.
Point system:
What about having another incentives to bring fans into our venues?
You as an alum bring one, two or more to a game should result into getting “points”. Heck we get points at the grocery stores why not with U of H?
I could see a University of Houston public recognition for bringing fans to games with a meaningful prize each month during the football season and during the basketball season. Then at the end of the Football season the school names our Alum Fan of the Year Award. We have got to think outside of the box. I will write it again U of H has got to be as “creative” as possible to finally create that “legacy spine” that is crucial to all blue bloods or major programs.
Chris,
I initially liked the idea of a legacy points admission system to develop what
we want to see. A university with proud dedicated alums that give generously to their school and
support the teams as well. But the more I think about this, the less I’m convinced it’s the right
way to go about. Most top public’s don’t have this or did away with it 20 years ago or more.
I think lots of schools certainly benefited from it in building the strong generational connection, but
I think the time for that approach is past from a legal and moral perspective.
I’m not sure even a legacy discount would pass legal review today, but I’ll let the lawyers here
discuss that.
However, UHAA scholarships from the donations made by lifetime membership should be the route we go to avoid legal issues. And those legacy scholarships should be large enough and numerous
enough to be a contributing factor in the decision process.
Do you guys think those university districts are charities? They are for profit businesses. And if one thing Houston is known for is business. We know how to make money, nothing stands in the way, not race, immigration status, nothing. If there was money to be made making a district on Scott Street, they’ve already have done it. The fact is, it won’t be supported outside of the school calendar.
I do not see it as someone giving donations to our school. i see the exact opposite. I see your common alum say 20 years ago that now has children. Give the UH dad a “carrot” to facilitate his child’s admission to U of H.
These public universities that did away with helping alum already have a strong alum base to go to their games. We do not. I have pointed this out many times and this relate to our historical probations.
The following point is crucially important on why we have a “spotty” attendance.
Every single one of the probation and dating back to the first one coincides with:
U of H football program either highly Nationally ranked or making headways.
Attendance has to be treaded like a business.
What happens when a business has an inventory issue?
Customers go elsewhere.
What happens when a business has a high merchandise return?
Customers buy other products.
Now and I ask all of you this.
What happens to the common fan, UH alum when your school is on probation every time it makes headways?
These same common fans, casual fans and even alums get discouraged and do not care anymore.
Who has benefited greatly from this. Of course UT and atm did. Even though their teams sucked at the same time these probations put us right back at the end of the bus.
In business term these probations have been catastrophic to our sports programs.
This led me to open this thread to have our school consider “outside” of the box ideas that can build this U of H identity. Of course U of H is a business but I don’t want our leaders complaining about poor attendance if we have not tried every possible idea to indeed build up attendance.
Duce630
(DustinK - I Stand With Israel - Bring Them Home)
34
According to UH.edu 8,000 beds.
Devils advocate here, why specifically UH boundaries? Why not other areas that lack those things (i.e. food deserts)?
The fact that UCF is in suburban area something like 20 miles from downtown on the edge of the city limits as opposed to in an inner city area like UH makes it easier for them.
That said, I AGREE, we need to develop that area across Scott Street into something other than an eyesore.
UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON ALUMNI ASSOCIATION LEGACY SCHOLARSHIP
This scholarship is for children and grandchildren of University of Houston Alumni.
Complete online application
Awarded to Freshman and Transfer Students for up to 4 years
Must have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.5 per semester (on a 4.0 scale)
Undergraduates must be enrolled for a minimum of 12 credit hours
Graduates must be enrolled for a minimum of 9 credit hours
Students must be in good academic standing
One short essay is required: Please tell us what your goals are, why you with to attend the University of Houston, and how this scholarship will assist you.
Deadline to Apply: March 15th
I’d encourage everyone to look at the financial link above and give your comments on
how good the UHAAF is doing funding legacy scholarships.
There are so many ways to be creative with…so many U of H alums in the greater Houston area.
This is what ticks me off.
We all know that our athletic department operates in the red. Hopefully at some point we will break even. Per Mrs. Khator a strong athletic department is paramount for U of H. Then why not be as creative as possible?
What we all want is for our stadium to be full. IMO our stadium full with U of H alum and their children would be a the biggest turn around our program has experienced. What kind we do to achieve that? That is what our A.D., Alum President and ticket office should concentrate on day after day until we have a full house.
I’m behind you 100%. Any creative things we can do that work is great. If that’s points on
legacy admits or legacy tuition/room/ board discounts or whatever I’m all for it ( I do have
concerns about how those programs would be viewed by the public) . But all for whatever
creative things that can be effectively implemented.
I’m disappointed at how little the UHAAF gives on legacy scholarships FWIW.
I would like to add if i have kids. I would tell them to go to USC and Michigan.
Why? Because they have smart attractive people, unlimited funds, and will probably network with other students whos parents are well off. And they seem like fun schools.
The fact we have people here complaining constantly about attendance or energy or anything makes it seems like we have problems that dont get addressed.
The fact our AD is losing money from students because its not fun or theres nothing theyre doing to promote the experience makes me believe there is none.
The equation is simple. Get all the girls to go into the games. Guys will follow. Blow up social media with tiktoks or tweets or post about the experience. Put a couple attractive people on those tweets. The rest will take care of itself.
Promote the party scene. How can UH not be involved in who rents the spaces on campus for food and drinks. They let that side by nook get killed when it use to be great.
Obviously if you can get in youre smart just need to show theres more to life than grades. But you need to keep students on campus. Thats none negotiable.
Anybody, anybody that has an “ear” with our leaders ought to have them think on how this can help our athletic department and…school long term.
Regional identity in the soon to be third biggest city in America is the key to our success. What better way then to have that regional identity with U of H the biggest University, in the Third Ward in Houston proper?
The key is to have our leaders even consider this. I sure hope they would.
